TechBio and Psychedelics (II)
MetaphysicalCells: A newsletter about Science, Technology and AI Drug Discovery
TechBio and Psychedelics (I), 🔒subscriber-only edition 🔒
TechBio and Psychedelics (II). 🔒 subscriber-only edition 🔒
▶️ AI Program Finds Thousands of Possible Psychedelics. Will They Lead to New Drugs?
Researchers have used the protein-structure-prediction tool AlphaFold to identify hundreds of thousands of potential new psychedelic molecules—which could help to develop new kinds of antidepressant. The research shows, for the first time, that AlphaFold predictions—available at the touch of a button—can be just as useful for drug discovery as experimentally derived protein structures, which can take months, or even years, to determine.
TechBio and Psychedelics (II)
As I already mentioned in the previous newsletter TechBio and Psychedelics (I), the intersection of AI and psychedelics 🔮 is a fascinating and emerging field that blends cutting-edge technology with the exploration of human consciousness, mental health, and neuroscience. While these two domains may initially seem unrelated, they are increasingly converging in areas such as drug discovery, mental health treatment, brain research, and even philosophical inquiries into the nature of consciousness.
In particular, AI/ML can be used to simulate and analyze the effects of psychedelics on the brain. For example, neural networks can model how psychedelics disrupt default mode network (DMN) activity, which is associated with ego dissolution and altered states of consciousness. AI can accelerate the discovery of new psychedelic compounds or optimize existing ones for therapeutic use. ML models can predict molecular interactions and identify compounds with desired effects. AI can help tailor psychedelic therapy to individual patients by analyzing data from brain imaging, genetic profiles, and psychological assessments. And this could improve treatment outcomes and reduce risks.
Furthermore, psychedelics provide a unique window into the nature of consciousness, and AI can help analyze the complex data generated during psychedelic experiences. This collaboration could advance our understanding of the mind 🤯 and brain 🧠. What's more, AI-powered VR systems could simulate psychedelic experiences for therapeutic or research purposes, allowing users to explore altered states without ingesting substances.
Moreover, engineering organisms (e.g., yeast, bacteria) can biosynthesize 🔩 psychedelics like psilocybin or MDMA efficiently, reducing reliance on traditional extraction and lowering costs. To give an example, Ginkgo Bioworks (NASDAQ: DNA) uses synthetic biology to engineer organisms for scalable production of psychedelics like psilocybin and has partnered with Octarine Bio that focuses on biosynthetic production of psilocybin and other tryptamines using yeast and bacteria. Also Alkemist Labs, a pioneer in botanical identity testing with expanded capabilities in phytochemical potency analysis, is doing the same.
More specifically, the following three companies produce psychedelics with engineering organisms:
✴️ Octarine Bio (Octarine Bio ApS)
Octarine Bio is a synthetic biology company that produces superior cannabinoids for the pharmaceutical industry. They are using a unique biosynthetic platform and they engineer microorganisms to produce a wide array of ingredients such as textile dyes, skincare ingredients and health supplements, as well as natural and novel cannabinoid and psilocybin derived molecules with improved pharmacokinetic and therapeutic properties. On September 27, 2022, the successful completion of the pre-series A round came as the company achieved a set of milestones with its proprietary cannabinoid lead products demonstrating impressive improvements in vivo, validating the potential of the platform to generate molecules with tailored modes of action (Danish synthetic biology company Octarine Bio closes €2M fundraising co-led by DSM Venturing and Oskare Capital).
On September 18, 2024, Octarine Bio celebrated PurePalette™'s debut on the London Fashion Week runway in collaboration with Patrick McDowell. To be more specific, the Danish Biosolutions company Octarine Bio has joined forces with sustainable and luxury fashion designer Patrick McDowell to produce several garments for their SS25 collection dyed with PurePalette™, Octarine's sustainable nature-based dyes. Furthermore, on October 31, 2024 Ginkgo Bioworks and Octarine Bio Partnership Achieved Initial Success in Advancing Sustainable Dye Production. Specifically, Ginkgo Bioworks has successfully completed Phase 1 of its partnership with Octarine Bio, delivering multiple microbial strains for sustainable dye production that enable the company to initiate scale-up.
Alkemist Labs, located in Garden Grove, California, was founded more than 25 years ago as an independently owned contract laboratory. With just under 50 employees in 2023, this small laboratory plays a significant role in the botanical testing industry. Their talented team members are experts in plants, botanicals, fungus, and nutraceuticals, and they test them to confirm their identity, potency, and purity, as well as for any possible contamination. They test everything from green tea to determine how much caffeine it contains, to cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms to determine its identity and potency. They also test botanicals to ensure they do not contain more than the legal limit of heavy metals, pesticides, residual solvents, and other biological contaminants (Alkemist Labs Continuous Improvement and Organizational Growth Through Accreditation).
Also Lobe Siences Ltd (CSE: LOBE) combines synthetic biology and drug delivery systems for psychedelic-based therapies. On November 18, 2024, Lobe Sciences and Alera Pharma Announced Notice of Allowance for Second U.S. Patent for Conjugated Psilocin.
A company that develops non-hallucinogenic psychedelics using computational biology and focusing on neuroplasticity mechanisms, is Delix Therapeutics.
✴️ Delix Therapeutics: Transforming the Treatment of Brain Health (Delix Therapeutics, Inc)